One Bad Ass Runner

So, a week ago I ran a 50K and ran for 8 hours on a tough trail.  I knew I had this local race planned for today but never in my life was I expecting to be in any shape or form ready to race this or even attempt the 5K as a speedwork session. Then, on Monday, I ran a 5 mile recovery run and surprisingly, my pace was faster than recovery pace.  Same on Tuesday and Wednesday, and on and on.  By last night, I seriously starting thinking about doing this as a good speedwork session.  Remember, I did a 5K two weeks ago and came in at 27:22 with my first no albuterol 5K, phlegming and coughing the whole way.  I didn't want that to happen today, but I was going to give my best efforts without albuterol. Albuterol helps my fast running. If I take it, my short and fast paces get faster and I don't get asthma attacks.  But getting off albuterol was one of my goals for 2013 and so far (knock on wood), I have felt no need to use the med while running.  I...

And apparently, because I need to keep my Bad Ass card, I decided to take on a very hard course, oops. After DNS'ing my first ultra last year for asthma reasons and after having to DNS that same ultra again this year because I had a kitty in the hospital and very ill, I signed up for the DTR Endurance 50K, a tough trail race in Stuart, Florida.  While the other ultras were road races, this one was going to be on a trail.  A trail I had never seen until today (the park is 2 hours away from home).  A trail that ended up being tougher than advertised, even though the RD did a great job warning us that it was a tough course and an adventure.  It was both, alright. As you know, I am going after more Maniac stars, so this race had to be official to count.  The only issue was that the race had an 8 hour limit and I was not sure I could finish it within that time.  The last trail HM I did was 2 years ago and I finished in 3:45 so I knew that if the race w...

Today, I ran the SunSmart 5K, which is a race that benefits Melanoma Awareness, a great cause, especially for us runners.  They had a great section with doctors and other professionals doing melanoma testing and awareness presentations.  I had a 3 X 1600m workout today so I looked for a 5K and found a couple, but this one was both flat, closer to home, and for a good cause.  Score! The weather was hideous, 84F and 74 dewpoint, which according to the chart posted in the "Does This Appeal to Anyone" thread is equal to 102F  , and trust me, you could feel the mugginess in the air; in fact, you sometimes could see it. I barely slept last night, as the kitties decided to fight with each other all night.  They were fine when I woke up at 6am and apparently made up and went to bed all together.  Thank you very much. I got there at 7am and picked my packet up.  At 7:20 I went for a run.  Race started at 8am (Da Fuck?) which is too late for M...